Matthew Kleinveldt is from a cricketing family, with a father, John, that took 44 wickets at 16.63 in first-class cricket but found his chances limited in the Apartheid-era. His cousin Rory went on to play for South Africa and uncle Gary good enough to play for Hampshire Second XI - which is where Matthew began his career, having been born in Southampton and schooled in England. He made several appearances for Hampshire, Essex and Sussex Second XIs and was offered a contract by Hampshire but was unable to take it up due to visa regulations.

As a result, he joined his cousin in South Africa and won a deal with Western Province, for whom he made his debut against Eastern Province in October 2010. He played a full season scoring 584 runs at 38.93 but could only marginally improve his tally to 669 runs in 2011-12 and they came at just 27.87.
ESPNcricinfo staff